Making the effort … Part II Grateful for vacations!

To be continued- Still feeling the effects of my vacation in Hawaii..grateful and refreshed. I have visited the Big Island quite a few times and I enjoy looking for new things to do and new hidden gems to see. This trip did not disappoint! I had found an advertisement for a tour of the Ok Farm near Hilo and also a mushroom farm not too far, both I could squeeze in a day trip to Hilo. My tour ended up being a private tour with the owner which made it all the more special.

Rainbow Falls, One of two Waterfalls located on the land of Ok Farms.

The background story of the farm is pretty much the American dream. People with a desire to bring to life their dream and not about to give up until it happens. What was once a simple Macadamia Tree Farm turned into a farm with citrus, macadamia, coffee, spices, honey and even a few spots of land that locals can rent to farm. Besides producing the owners saw the potentials for tours and a small store to sell their merchandise.

Harvesting Macadamia Nuts, their initial crop, is still done by hand. The nuts are not shook off the tree manually but after naturally dropping (in the green state) they are picked up by hand. After the other common island friendly crops were planted, such coffee and citrus they looked to see what else might be an opportunity for the farm to try their hand at. Spice Row was created, a beautiful exotic section of the farm dedicated to spices. I have to admit my ignorance as to how spices grow and was amazed as I was able to walk and inhale all the wonderful smells of spice row. Curry Pepper Tree, Cinnamon Tree, Clove and Nutmeg are the ones that are harvested and sold at their store and to local chefs. Now this is not a huge mass production operation just a small, trusted amount of good quality spices. I left with Christmas gifts for friends and a warm heart to see what they had made of that land. You cannot put a price on having the knowledge of exactly where your food is grown, and to see the soil and water that nourishes it. Another reason I should consider moving over there..lol!

Unfortunately the Mushroom Farm was closed for tours so I visited the Astronomy Museum on the campus of the University of Hawaii. It was a great ending to my day.